Towards a blue-sky target in the EU and Turkey: exploration on the connection between CO2 emissions and the air transportation Sector

Abstract

Abstract Air transportation sector over the years has experience tremendous growth, being recognized as an integral part of the global transport system. However, the growth in the transportation system is not void of environmental concerns. The coronavirus disease had a devastating impact on the airline industry worldwide, with almost all air travel suspended in late March till April 2021. Since then, cancellation of flights has enormously reduced CO2 emission in the air caused by air transportation. Negative impact on economy due to contraction in airline industry turn out to be positive impact on an environmental sustainability. Airline sector has been the first and most obvious economic casualty of the coronavirus. International passenger air traffic was crashed with 98 percent of cancellation in air within both domestic and international flying routes due to lockdowns in all airports. To this end, the present study empirically explores the environmental impact of the sectoral lockdown within the EU28 and Turkey by leveraging the Wavelet Coherence Transform (WCT) technique. The result revealed that there was a sharp decline in CO2 emissions caused by the airline industry during the period of 2020–2021 on quarterly basis. The recovery of international passenger traffic will proceed at a very slow pace. From a policy perspective, stakeholders in the airline sector are encouraged to formulate strategies that promote a balance between economic growth without compromising environmental quality within the contact of the investigated bloc.